


the hunter's heart, the hunter's mouth

by mnabokov



Series: snow and dirty rain (世界) [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 06:43:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15880671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mnabokov/pseuds/mnabokov
Summary: Here were two boys who met one fateful spring morning, who fell in love together as the seasons cycled through. Here were two bodies orbiting each other, balanced by respect and loyalty.





	1. we are the crossroads

**Author's Note:**

> If this isn’t a kingdom then I don’t know what is.  
> So how would you catalog it? Dawn in the fields?  
> Snow and dirty rain? Light brought in in buckets?  
> I was trying to describe the kingdom, but the letters  
> kept smudging as I wrote them: the hunter’s heart,  
> the hunter’s mouth, the trees and the trees and the  
> space between the trees, swimming in gold. The words  
> frozen. The creatures frozen. 
> 
> \- Richard Siken’s _Snow and Dirty Rain_

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first time.

Ripe fruit. Beeswax. Summer.  
  
“Come on,” Jongin calls over his shoulder. He’s smiling.  
  
They trek through the dark woods. Sehun follows Jongin’s sweet scent more than anything else. He stumbles once or twice, delirious, drunk on that smell.  
  
After another clash with the mountain wolves, Jongin and Sehun had split off from the rest of their pack -- or, more accurately, Jongin had taken off and asked Sehun to join him.  
  
The past few moons have been good to them both. Sehun has learned to control his desire and Jongin has grown used to his new orientation.  
  
Sehun follows Jongin across the stream, the dark water curling like ink around their legs, swirling cool against their skin.  
  
“What’s this all about,” Sehun asks, shaking droplets of river water from his hair when they reach the shallow bank near the willow tree on the other side. He asks, even though he thinks that he knows the answer. He wants to hear Jongin say it.  
  
Jongin rolls into the earth, his scent mingling with sweet grass. Shyly, he ducks his head under his arm and Sehun draws closer.  
  
“Don’t play coy,” Sehun breathes out. It’s meant to be teasing, but Sehun’s panting, his fingers clawing the soft grass beneath them. There’s a good distance between them. Sehun doesn’t trust himself to come any closer.  
  
“I’m finished waiting,” Jongin says, without looking at Sehun.  
  
“Jongin,” Sehun says a little sharply, more authoritative. “Tell me what you want.”  
  
When Jongin looks up, his eyes are blown. “Don’t make me say it.”  
  
There’s a cloud of lust hanging over them. It makes Sehun’s head spin. Sehun licks his lips.  
  
Jongin turns onto his back. There’s a strand of hair fallen over his forehead, and, under the moonlight, the white fabric of his shirt nearly glows against the dark grass. His mouth is slack, open, no doubt scenting the air for the pheromones that Sehun’s body is pumping out.  
  
“Sehun,” Jongin says. When he parts his legs bashfully, there’s a telling stain growing against the material of his pants.  
  
Sehun’s cock is already stiff within his own pants. Sehun crawls forward, and touches Jongin’s shoulder briefly. “I’ll take care of you,” Sehun says, only half asking.  
  
Jongin inhales with a shudder. “Please.”  
  
The life that they live has forced each and every one of them to become brutal, rough and tough around the edges. These days, Jongin doesn’t hesitate before leaping into fights, and Junmyeon was right -- he’s faster than Baekhyun, bites more ferociously than Chanyeol.  
  
But right now, despite the drying flecks of red painted across his shirt, Jongin’s compliant and beautiful, his muscles loose and waiting despite the desire that he must feel. At the least, Jongin deserves this: some semblance of a soft touch, one gentle thing for the two of them to share.  
  
So Jongin nips on Sehun’s ear, yanking him close and urging him to move quickly, but Sehun touches him slowly. Reverently. Let Sehun give him this, for once.  
  
“Sehun,” Jongin whines again. He’s rocking up against Sehun’s chest, stuck between grass and the unyielding plane of Sehun’s front. Sehun doesn’t give an inch: just noses against his neck, smooths two palms down Jongin’s stomach calmly.  
  
“Shush,” Sehun commands. “Let me take care of you.”  
  
A spray of water droplets still clings to their ankles, and Jongin’s shirt must be plastered to his back as he lies against the dewy grass. But then Sehun tugs off Jongin’s trousers and can’t seem to care about anything else.  
  
Sehun feels a deep growl rumbling in his chest when he sees how wet -- impossibly wet, dripping, slick and hot and perfect -- Jongin is. An embarrassed noise jerks out of Jongin’s throat, and he tries to close his legs, but Sehun growls again and noses in between, to where the smell is strongest, sweetest. Sehun uses his tongue to lap up the slick to taste.  
  
Jongin yelps in surprise but Sehun pins down his hips with two hands. After a thorough inspection, Sehun, satisfied, reaches down to pull out his cock.  
  
Jongin squirms when Sehun leans forward; Sehun’s mouth slots against Jongin’s and the fat head of his cock brushes against Jongin’s slick hole.  
  
“Sehun, give it to me,” Jongin whimpers. Sehun rucks up his shirt and runs his hands over the exposed skin posessively. Jongin’s flanks tremble and Sehun pauses with worry: even in heat, even slopping and silky wet, Jongin seems too tight.  
  
Sehun bites down on his instinct to push forward, thrust deep; instead, he slips two fingers in.  
  
Jongin’s muscles tighten immediately, pulling him two knuckles deep.  
  
“You miserable thing,” Sehun murmurs against his neck. “Jongin, you’re soaking -- Jesus, how long have you been waiting for this?”  
  
Jongin humps upward mindlessly, breathing unevenly, his throat working around each breath. “Need it,” Jongin pants, “Need you -- God, Sehun -- ”  
  
Sehun lines himself up and Jongin’s scrabbling at the dirt beneath them, clawing at the grass, slurring out pleas.  
  
Slowly, Sehun pushes in.  
  
Jongin goes quiet, his mouth forming an o-shape. He stretches his hands up above his head in invitation, and Sehun grabs his wrists, pinning them there, in the grass, pressing them into the dirt.  
  
Sehun freezes.  
  
“You’re shaking,” Sehun murmurs, against Jongin’s neck, underneath his right ear. Even though he’s only halfway in, Jongin feels like a dream. But his chest dips up and down shallowly as he breathes, a beat too quickly to be natural.  
  
Jongin jerks his head to the side. He bucks forward and then Sehun slips in the rest of the way.  
  
A base and animal desire roars in Sehun’s chest; he yields to desire -- just for a second -- and hangs his head to ghost his fangs against Jongin’s neck, right where the nape of his neck meets his shoulder, where he’d bite to stake his claim, mark him.  
  
Jongin lets out a choked whimper. Against his instinct, Sehun sheaths his fangs and instead rolls his hips gently into Jongin, rocking their bodies together. That is a discussion for another time.  
  
The rest blurs into a few salient details: the soft slip of Jongin’s fingers against Sehun’s spine, grounding him; Sehun’s teeth bared, molars grinding together, as he exhales against Jongin’s neck, desperately willing himself to move slower, thrust more gently; the feel of Jongin’s wrist bones creaking under Sehun’s grip; the smell of evening rain and dulcet vanilla and fertile earth.  
  
Lust curls out between them and Sehun sands it into place, moving carefully against Jongin. Jongin -- who stifles his gasps and his heavy breathing, but his body is ripe and tempting. Another Alpha might take that as invitation. However, Sehun just squeezes his eyes shut and listens to the rise and fall of Jongin’s chest. It takes all of his willpower to hold back.  
  
And then Sehun’s gut twinges, fangs aching behind his teeth, claws itching behind his fingernails -- but Sehun pushes that hunger down and starts to pull away, to make sure he won’t end up knotting in Jongin.  
  
Some part of Sehun’s brain registers that it makes sense, from an evolutionary standpoint, that Omegas should be stronger in heat, more resilient to fight off unwanted, unworthy Alphas. Yet it’s still a bit of a shock when Jongin snarls, livid, and yanks his hands from Sehun’s grip, comes up to claw at Sehun’s shoulders and drag him back down just as Sehun comes.  
  
The base of Sehun’s cock swells, stretching Jongin obscenely tight.  
  
Jongin cries out -- it’s so tight, it’s _too_ tight -- but wraps his legs around Sehun and keeps him in; Sehun grunts and the edge of his mouth touches Jongin’s. He digs his claws into the earth; grass is yanked out in tufts.  
  
“Does it hurt?” Sehun manages to murmur, as Jongin’s body clenches, furtively adjusting against the swell.  
  
Jongin’s lack of an answer is an answer in and of itself, but he just tilts his head so that their mouths can touch better.  
  
That Jongin doesn’t cry is a testament to his grit. Sehun feverishly remembers the red-ringed gaze of Junmyeon after his surprising heat a few seasons ago. Instead Jongin just quivers quietly, and he sucks in Sehun’s seed, clenching around the rush.  
  
When the knot finally subsides, they twist their fingers -- stained with grass and dirt and slick -- together, uncaring of the mess. Sehun realizes that Jongin’s cock is limp between their bellies, spent from where he had come, rubbing between the flat lines of their bodies.  
  
It takes a while for both of them to come down from the high. When Sehun’s senses finally come filtering back, Jongin sighs into the cavity of Sehun’s mouth.  
  
“We should get back,” Jongin mumbles, eyes half closed and mouth weak.  
  
“Can you walk?”  
  
Jongin nods. Still, Sehun helps him up, Jongin’s legs trembling like a newborn colt.  
  
Clothes ripped and covered with a motley of stains and scents, they return.  
  
Luhan is the only one up and waiting for them -- the hour is late, and the Beta’s perched on a chair in the kitchen, cleaning his nails.  
  
Luhan looks up when they walk in.  
  
“It’s late,” Sehun says. He takes half a step in front of Jongin, to shield Luhan’s prying gaze from seeing the tears in Jongin’s shirt, the blush rising on his cheeks.  
  
“It is,” Luhan agrees conversationally. Despite them wading through the stream on the way back and cleaning most of the evidence away, it must be impossible for Luhan not to smell the stench of sex. But he just hops off his chair and casts a lingering gaze over the two of them. His nostrils flare. “I think I’ll head to bed.” He walks to his room without a backward glance.  
  
Sehun fixes Jongin a hearty meal of bean and meat soup. Though he could also eat, Sehun chooses not to. Instead he watches as Jongin, droopy eyed and sluggish, puts away the stew, spoonful by spoonful. When he finishes, Sehun escorts him to the spare room.  
  
“Stay,” Jongin murmurs, as his eyes close.  
  
Sehun stays.  
  
  
  
That’s how the rest of the pack finds them the next morning.  
  
Sehun, curled protectively around Jongin, and Jongin wrapped up in a thick sweater.  
  
“Jongin,” Baekhyun calls out, singsongingly. “Jongin!”  
  
Baekhyun jogs into their room and nuzzles into Jongin’s other side, making a pleased noise in the back of his throat. He can smell the warmth that Jongin exudes, contentment condensed into a pheromone.  
  
Sleepily Jongin mumbles something indecipherable. Sehun, who has been awake for a while and heard Baekhyun coming down the hall, just watches as Baekhyun pokes Jongin, prodding curiously.  
  
“He smells different,” Baekhyun says to Sehun, even as he stares at Jongin.  
  
Just as Sehun opens his mouth to reply, Yixing sticks his head in, visibly sniffing the air.  
  
Then, because in a pack there is no such thing as secrecy, Jongdae and Kyungsoo come in as well, cooing and scenting and coming up to rest next to Sehun and Jongin. The scent of Jongin’s happiness, so definitive and distinctly new, is enough to attract even Yifan and Junmyeon, who stand in the doorway to watch the younger wolves form a messy pile as they snuggle together.  
  
It isn’t until later, when Luhan and Zitao strongarm Jongin into enjoying the sun by the river with them, that Yifan has the chance to single out Sehun.  
  
“You didn’t mark him,” Yifan says. Both he and Sehun glance over to the stream, where Jongin’s stretched out on the shore, the skin of his neck still perfect, smooth, and unbitten.  
  
“I didn’t,” Sehun agrees.  
  
“Why didn’t you?”  
  
“Was I supposed to?”  
  
“It solidifies the bond. It’s a sign of permanence. Commitment.” Yifan gestures to where Junmyeon teaches Chanyeol how to find crayfish in the water. On Junmyeon’s neck is the faint outline of a bite mark, faded from years under the sun and rain. Even from this far, Sehun knows that it matches Yifan’s teeth perfectly.  
  
Sehun looks back at Yifan. Tilts his head. “Jongin is mine as much as I am his. It’s his decision too, you know.”  
  
“A mark would the best for you both. He’s still young. The mark would tamp down his scent, make it less --  ”  
  
“I won’t,” Sehun says firmly, but calmly. “Not until he asks me.”  
  
Yifan curls his hands into fists in frustration. “I know that he’s more than capable of fending for himself,” he starts.  
  
“So then let him do so,” Sehun says. “I don’t understand why we’re still having this conversation.”  
  
“But,” Yifan continues, “You know as well as I do that the mountain pack is looking for retaliation. Especially since we’ve killed two of their wolves in the last few moons.”  
  
Sehun repeats, “I won’t.”  
  
Jongin comes to Sehun again that night, and Sehun locks the door with a decisive click. He fucks Jongin on the bare floor, rough and fast like Jongin begs for: Jongin bends down on all fours, and Sehun thrusts into him from behind; their hands and knees are raw and pink by the time Sehun’s done rutting -- and he ruts for what feels like hours, nails raking down Jongin’s smooth, sweaty flanks, relishing the perfect gasps and groans that Jongin makes. As much as he would like to, and as much as Sehun thinks about it, he doesn’t bite.  
  
  
  
“We’ll go to them at the next full moon. I want to bring Sehun, Chanyeol, Luhan, and Junmyeon,” Yifan is saying at their pack meeting. The mountain wolves had demanded a meeting, but Minseok had been wary, thinking that it was a trap.  
  
“I want to go too,” Jongin interjects. “If it’s dangerous, then I can help. You know I can.”  
  
“No,” Yifan says, although not unkindly. “It’d be best for you to stay here.” Tend the house, care for the other Betas while the rest of us are gone, he doesn’t say, but Sehun -- and no doubt Jongin -- hears it all the same.  
  
“Let him come,” Sehun says challengingly. “Let him prove his worth.” As though Jongin hasn’t proven so a thousand times over, working twice as hard as anyone else to receive half of the praise he deserves. Frustration blossoms in his chest. He can’t even imagine how Jongin must feel.  
  
“Sehun,” Luhan hisses warningly.  
  
“You told me that you think he can fend for himself,” Sehun spits out, “So prove it. Stay true to your word.”  
  
Yifan presses two fingers against his temple. “Sehun, this is not the first time I’ve asked you to hold your tongue during meetings. If you don’t stop questioning my authority, then you won’t be able to come with us at all.”  
  
Even the other Alphas in the room are cowed when Yifan speaks so coldly. Baekhyun shifts uncomfortably in his seat, and Chanyeol lowers his gaze.  
  
Sehun’s about to protest hotly when Jongin brushes his fingers against Sehun’s shoulder.  
  
“Don’t,” he says quietly.  
  
Sehun clicks his jaws shut, and sits back in reluctant acquiescence.  
  
Minseok and Jongdae have twin expressions of shock across their faces; clearly they aren’t used to Sehun giving in so easily. Kyungsoo blatantly stares between Sehun and Jongin and Yifan. “Thank you,” Yifan says, not bothering to glance at them. “As I was saying… ”  
  
Sehun drags Jongin out of the meeting as soon as it ends.  
  
“Well?” he demands. They’re in the woods behind their shelter, in relative privacy.  
  
“Are you crazy?” Jongin hisses. “If you had said another word, he would’ve exiled you from this pack, Sehun! You’re already on his bad side and you’re questioning his every decision all the time. I’d rather stay back then see you kicked out for this.”  
  
Sehun growls in frustration, but he can see Jongin’s perspective.  
  
“Fine,” he bites out.  
  
Jongin looks at Sehun and smiles wryly. “Come on,” he says, holding out a hand patiently. “Help me clean up the mess Baekhyun made in the kitchen.”  
  



	2. one

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was an ancient tale told from parent to child, an epic, enthralling adventure that spanned across forests and rivers and valleys.   
  
This timeless tale is, in some way, a love story.   
  
It is a love between the earth and the sun, between the sun and the moon. It is an unsung romance between the blood that pounds in our veins and the metal that echoes eerily in the dirt. There is metal, in the core of human bodies. Iron and copper and zinc -- minerals that are made of the same material that burns in lava, that heats in the center of the earth. It’s like the people and the animals and the earth are all made of the same substances, only in different amounts, only in different quantities.    
  
It may be a love story between two hearts, as well.    
  
  
  
Close your eyes.    
  
Imagine a darkness like this: pitch-black, burned ink; complete and absolute silence. Imagine living in a world of noise and movement your whole life, then finding a place as silent and as still and as dark as this -- this untouched, untamed wilderness. This is how our ancestors used to live. This is what Sehun is surrounded by when he slips out of the forest -- accompanied by a few members of his pack -- to head to the mountains.   
  
It is with heavy dread and great regret that Sehun leaves his home under the cover of the night. The sky is moonless, with only faint pinpricks of starlight to guide them across the river, over the grassy knoll to the mountain wolves’ territory.    
  
Jongin’s sleeping still, nestled in between Zitao and Yixing most likely, his face probably buried in one of Sehun’s old sweaters -- because as much as Jongin doesn’t want to admit it, he likes the smell of Sehun, his face going slack and smooth and pretty when he wears Sehun’s clothes. Sehun likes it too.    
  
Even though they’ll only be gone a few days -- for journeying deep into the heart of mountain pack territory is a slow process on unfamiliar ground -- Sehun already feels his pulse thrumming, his heart quickening at the thought of leaving Jongin alone.    
  
But Jongin is his own entity, his own body. Sehun knows better than to try and claim him any sooner than Jongin would like.    
  
The night is cool and the air crisp in the way that Sehun has come to associate with autumn evenings. No one says a word.   
  
They cross the rippling stream in near complete darkness, and their wet clothes drip over grass as they make their way up the grassy hill that marks the end of their territory, and the beginning of the mountain pack’s. The large lake they pass glitters darkly in the night.    
  
For the majority of the night they travel. Yifan only allows them one or two hours of rest after dawn; then he’s nipping at their heels, urging them up again.    
  
It quickly becomes apparent that Luhan, Junmyeon, and Yifan know the way much better than Sehun and Chanyeol. Whereas the latter two fumble over the large boulders and thin tall grass, the older pack members seem more comfortable weaving through the rocky terrain. It takes them longer than expected to arrive at a little pocket at the base of the mountains.   
  
“Yifan,” a young Alpha greets, a lone figure standing in front of a hollow cave camouflaged against the rock.    
  
“Namjoon,” Yifan dips his head. “Where’s your pack leader?”   
  
Namjoon replies tonelessly, “Dead. I’m leader now.”   
  
Sehun blinks back his shock. Namjoon hardly looks older than Sehun. But if there’s one thing that Sehun’s learned from living as a wolf, it’s that the most dangerous animal is a caged one with nothing to lose. And if there’s one thing that Sehun’s learned from Jongin, it’s that looks are deceiving.    
  
Yifan looks up, expressionless. The rest of the forest wolves stand behind him slightly, but Sehun’s standing closest, standing right behind Yifan. He sees the way Yifan freezes almost imperceptibly.   
  
“How?”   
  
“Hunger,” Namjoon bares his teeth. “But I’m sure you knew that.”   
  
Yifan looks unmoved. “Let’s have a chat.”   
  
Namjoon hesitates visibly, before he nods in agreement, disappearing inside the cave. Yifan gestures for the rest of them to follow.   
  
Sunlight leaks into the small cave. Upon first glance, the mountain pack appears thin and scraggly. Sehun’s shocked to see only three other wolves in the cave, and one of them is lying down, panting heavily -- injured, then.   
  
“I don’t know what you want me to do,” Yifan says, striding into the cave without so much as a glance around. Sehun and Junmyeon, on the other hand, unashamedly sweep their gaze through the cave: sunlight only extends to about half of the cave, and the mountain wolves are shrouded in shadow, their eyes glinting in the light. What looks like the remnants of a fire are left on the floor of the cave. Piles of thick blankets are everywhere.    
  
It’s clear -- as Yifan strides in and takes a seat across from Namjoon -- that Yifan clearly has the advantage of experience and age on his side. He leans in and waits expectantly for Namjoon’s answer.   
  
“I want more land,” Namjoon demands.    
  
“And is the lake not sufficient?”   
  
“The mountains carry little prey in the winter. To demand on the lake completely would be to deplete all the fish and animals there.”   
  
“You’ve lived before,” Sehun counters, taking a seat next to Yifan. “You and your pack have lived in the mountains for years. What has changed?”   
  
Namjoon eyes Sehun and waits, clearly expecting Yifan to reprimand him for speaking out of turn. But Yifan’s all too used to Sehun’s abrasive nature, and instead tells Namjoon: “Answer his question.”   
  
Namjoon looks irritated. “Prey in the mountain is best hunted by several wolves at once. We are -- ” he hesitates, glancing behind him. The remaining mountain wolves waiting in the shadows offer nothing, silence observers. “We are short on numbers, as you can tell. So we’ve been forced to hunt in the grasslands and the forest -- ”   
  
“Which you weren’t allowed to do,” Yifan says. “You should have honored the territories’ boundaries.”   
  
“And you shouldn’t have killed so many of our kin!”   
  
“They violated the rules of the boundaries,” Yifan defends himself calmly.    
  
“And they were expected to pay with their lives?”   
  
“These are rough times, Namjoon, you said it yourself.”   
  
Namjoon grits his teeth. “Will you at least admit that you were cruel?”   
  
Yifan’s gaze doesn’t flicker. “Don’t expect kindness from me after what your pack has done to mine.”   
  
Namjoon glances up, casting his gaze over Sehun, Luhan, Chanyeol, and finally Junmyeon. Slowly, Namjoon says, “You’re bold. Bringing so many wolves to my territory.”   
  
“You’re outnumbered here,” Yifan says. “Even more so, with one wolf injured.”   
  
Namjoon glances back at the wolf with the wounded leg. “Jimin was injured by one of yours. Your newest Omega, I believe.” Namjoon doesn’t bother to address the discrepancy between the two packs -- it’s clear that the forest pack would win, if a fight were to break out now.    
  
“Where’s the rest of your pack,” Yifan leans back, casting his gaze over the shrouded mountain wolves. “Where’s Seokjin? And Yoongi?”   
  
“They’re out hunting.”   
  
If they were out hunting, their scents would still be fresh. Sehun only smells four linger scents, of the four mountain wolves currently in the cave. Sehun lets out a harsh snarl. “Don’t lie to us.”   
  
Namjoon stares at Sehun. “They -- ”   
  
“They’ve retreated back to the other side of the mountain range,” a wolf in the back interrupts.   
  
Yifan looks up with recognition in his eyes. “Hoseok,” he greets.    
  
Hoseok steps forward, into the light. He’s pale, and his expression is dark. “They’re living out of our winter shelter.”   
  
“Why aren’t they here?” Sehun asks, narrowing his eyes. “Or should I ask, why aren’t you there?” Behind him, Luhan murmurs something nearly inaudible to Junmyeon. Yifan’s ears flick but he doesn’t look back.   
  
“There’s hardly enough food for us there,” Hoseok bites out. “We’d bring them here but -- ”   
  
“Enough,” Namjoon says, glaring at Hoseok. “We’re not here to discuss that. We’re here to talk about more territory, and why you murdered our pack members.”   
  
“They didn’t want to come here,” Junmyeon speaks up. “The rest of your pack. Seokjin and Yoongi and Taehyung, correct?” Junmyeon glances between Namjoon and Hoseok. “Knowing them, I’m sure they had their reservations when you, Namjoon, became leader.”   
  
A low growl emanates from Hoseok’s chest. “Watch what you’re saying, Omega,” he hisses.   
  
“We’re abandoning the winter shelter,” Namjoon says. “But some of our members -- some of them would rather stay there. We have all of our things there, and we can’t leave Jimin here -- ” Namjoon breaks off.   
  
Suddenly, it makes sense to Sehun. The few remaining mountain wolves are spread far, tending to the wounded and testy with new leadership. It’s hardly an ideal place to be.   
  
Yifan seems to think so too. “You’re angry with us,” Yifan agrees. “For killing members of your pack. Though I won’t give you land, I’ll offer you this: we help you bring the rest of your pack, here, closer to the lake and closer to more food. I won’t stop sending out border patrols, but I expect you to remain on your side of your territory.”   
  
“We don’t need your help,” Hoseok begins angrily, but Namjoon silences him with a raised hand.    
  
“Who will you send?” Namjoon counters. “To help us bring the rest of our pack back?”   
  
Luhan, still standing, steps forward. “Who do you want?”   
  
Namjoon doesn’t hesitate. “You,” he says, nodding at Sehun. “And that Omega. The young one.”   
  
Junmyeon snarls automatically and Hoseok smirks. “Touchy, aren’t we?”   
  
“I hardly think you’re in the position to laugh,” Luhan snaps. Sehun’s skin prickles uncomfortably and he refuses to let his hackles raise.   
  
Yifan motions for Junmyeon and Luhan to hold back. “How do we know we can trust you? Once they retrieve the others, then Sehun and Jongin will be outnumbered. Two of us, and what -- three of you? Yoongi, Seokjin, and Taehyung are quite formidable.”   
  
“Four of us,” Namjoon narrows his eyes. “I’ll have Jungkook -- ” at Namjoon’s call, an impossibly young-looking Alpha steps forward, bulky and steely-eyed, “Accompany you two there.”   
  
“And you expect us to accept?” Junmyeon snaps.   
  
Directly to Sehun, Namjoon asks flatly, “You don’t think you can handle this?” Sehun recognizes a jab when he sees one, and ignores it.   
  
Yifan sneers. “We’ll meet here again three days from now. Sehun will be here, with another wolf.”   
  
“Make it that Omega,” Hoseok says, “Or the deal’s off.”   
  
Yifan ignores him, turning and beckoning the rest of them to follow.   
  
  
  
“No,” Minseok says. “I won’t allow it. He’s too young, Yifan -- he’ll be with four other mountain wolf Alphas. Can you imagine allowing Junmyeon, unmated, to go in a situation like this?”   
  
Jongin growls. “I’ll speak for myself.” Sehun’s standing behind them and can’t see Jongin’s face, but his expression must be something -- because Minseok remains silent.   
  
“I should go,” Luhan offers, “I work with Sehun the best.”   
  
“No,” Junmyeon says, surprisingly firm. “Luhan should stay here. He knows the mountain wolves so if they come here while Yifan’s gone on patrol, then he can protect us.” Junmyeon casts a glance out the window of the den, where Zitao, Kyungsoo, Yixing and Jongdae are playing innocently in the dirt.    
  
“So then I’ll go,” Jongin says, “And you know that if you don’t let me go, I’ll sneak out to go anyway.” Jongin puts his empty dinner bowl in the sink. He leaves the den to join the Betas outside with a sense of finality.   
  
Yifan, who has been silent the entire argument, turns away. Baekhyun and Chanyeol nibble at their dinner. Sehun watches Jongin go.   
  
“I know that Jongin is perfectly capable of taking care of himself,” Luhan begins, stepping closer to Sehun. “But please think about this -- four young mountain Alphas, an unmated Omega, and you. Are those really the best odds we have?”   
  
And Luhan is right. Ever since they left that cave, Sehun’s gut has been churning uncomfortably. He doesn’t want Jongin to go.    
  
“I don’t want to put him in danger,” Sehun says slowly, “And he doesn’t want me in danger. It doesn’t seem fair that I should be able go and he can’t.”   
  
“Just be careful,” Junmyeon adds warningly. “I wouldn’t trust anything those mountain wolves say.”   
  
  
  
That night, Sehun’s about to make his way into Jongin and Zitao’s shared room -- which, for all intents and purposes, is now just Jongin and Zitao’s room in name, since Sehun spends most of his nights there -- when the door to his own room creaks open and Jongin pads in.   
  
Sehun’s roommates, Chanyeol and Baekhyun, shift slightly when Jongin’s scent fill the room, but otherwise remain sleeping.   
  
Sehun pulls up his blanket in offering and Jongin slips next to Sehun’s side in the same easy way he did when they were just boys.   
  
“You don’t have to go,” Sehun murmurs.   
  
“Neither do you.”   
  
Both of them are quiet for a moment. Then, Jongin sighs and Sehun catches the noise with his mouth.   
  
Like the rush of cold mountain water, like the first breath of spring -- that’s how Jongin feels, that’s how Jongin tastes. Jongin makes this sweet, sweet noise, and Sehun can’t help but roll into him, smothering Jongin’s smaller frame underneath Sehun’s body.    
  
Jongin opens up perfectly, letting his legs fall loose so Sehun can slot his hips against Jongin’s. He’s not in heat, but the scent of sunlight and vanilla lingers, the faintest perfume that perpetually clings to Jongin’s skin. “Jongin,” Sehun whispers.   
  
When they were young, the older wolves always loved to tell stories. Yifan told tales of their past, how the mountains’ wolves and the forests’ wolves would fight, how Minseok and Luhan and Junmyeon and him came to the redwood. Minseok would tell cautionary stories, of how wandering pups got lost if they stayed out too late after dark. Sehun likes Yixing’s stories best: he told tales of fire-breathing dragons and roaring lions, of tropical jungles and lapis lazuli oceans; stories of princes crossing seas and storms to find princesses.   
  
Sehun likes to think of Jongin as all of these things -- roaring lions and blue oceans and the reason why he’d cross storm and sea; the subject of every epic they have ever been told -- this grand romance, this timeless tale.    
  
“Sehun,” Jongin answers with a smile, as he always does.    
  
Sehun lets their mouths slot together, lets their bodies rock gently. Jongin is so soft. Sehun is so in love.   
  
Their scents must strengthen, because Chanyeol lets out a whine in his sleep, and Baekhyun begins to stir.    
  
Caught, Jongin blushes and wriggles out of Sehun’s grip.   
  
“They’re sleeping,” Sehun reassures, fingers tracing the curve of Jongin’s hip in the moonlight, eyes tracing the curve of Jongin’s pale, perfect neck in the cold autumn air. “Stay awhile.”   
  
“I shouldn’t,” Jongin says apologetically.    
  
Despite the wolf within him thirsting for touch, for blood, Sehun lets Jongin go.   
  
  
  
They leave for the mountains the next morning.   
  
Yifan, Zitao, and Junmyeon are the only ones awake early enough to see them go.    
  
Junmyeon and Zitao pull each of them in for a tight hug. Jongin murmurs something into Junmyeon’s ear that Sehun can’t catch, but whatever he says must reassure the elder, for he visibly relaxes. Yifan takes both of the hands in a tight grip. “Take care of yourselves,” he says, and then they’re off.   
  
Through the rippling stream in morning light, wet clothes dripping over grass as they traverse the grassy hill, past the large lake glittery brightly, and onto the rocky terrain of the mountain pack they go.    
  
The sun has just reached its highest point in the sky when they see Namjoon and the young Alpha -- Jungkook, Sehun remembers -- standing at the mouth of the cave.   
  
“Sehun,” Namjoon greets.    
  
“Namjoon,” Sehun says coolly. “This is Jongin.”   
  
Namjoon’s nostrils flare as he takes in Jongin’s scent.   
  
Jongin glances over Namjoon dismissively before looking at Jungkook. “Who’s this?”   
  
“Jungkook,” the young Alpha introduces himself.    
  
“Fantastic,” Sehun says dryly.    
  
“One thing to remember,” Namjoon says, “You should get back before snow begins to fall. It’ll be hard getting out of there after.”   
  
“It’d probably be best if you followed me,” Jungkook says flatly. “I know the land the best. Once we get up in the rocks, be sure to only step where I step.”   
  
When Sehun glances at Jongin, his expression is unreadable. Sehun nods.    
  
Hoseok emerges from within the cave with a bundle of furs. Belatedly, Sehun realizes that, as forest-dwellers, they have little experience with snow in the way that the mountain pack has. Namjoon starts explaining the way weather in the mountains is colder than by the lake; Jungkook gives Sehun a knapsack full of supplies to carry.    
  
With muttered farewells from Namjoon and Hoseok, the three of them head off. It’s the last time they talk for a while.   
  
Trekking across the mountainous terrain is no easy feat. For Sehun and Jongin, it’s twice as difficult, as they are used to soft detritus and fallen leaves underfoot. Here, there are only rocky outcrops and the crunching of pebbles and stones. Jungkook navigates the rocky climb easily, so Jongin and Sehun scramble to follow.    
  
With Jungkook leading the way, Sehun pulls up the rear. Jongin gives him a pointed look but Sehun continues to let Jongin go first, so as to be in better position to steady Jongin if he slips.    
  
They travel for three days and three nights in silence, pausing for rest only when it’s so dark out they cannot see. Each day they climb higher in altitude, and the thin air gives him and Jongin pause.    
  
Jungkook rarely speaks. He’s young, but the hardships that his pack have endured have made him tough, rough around the edges. Sehun’s foraging for food one night and comes back to see Jungkook sniffing curiously at Jongin’s sleeping body -- since there are no Omegas in the mountain pack, it’s not surprising that a young Alpha such as Jungkook would be interested. But Sehun growls so loudly that Jongin sticks his head up sleepily in time to catch Jungkook retreating hastily. Jungkook doesn’t look twice at Jongin again.   
  
Despite the colder weather and thinner air, the mountains offer a spectacular view once they climb up the first rocky face.    
  
Once they break through that first rocky outcrop, the black and gray stone breaks into a sloping valley that extends throughout the belly of the mountain range. Everything is cool and fresh: the rivulets of water that stream through the land are icy cold, melted snowcaps from the mountains; the ground is free of dead leaves or fallen twigs; the sky, unhindered by treetops or towering redwoods, is clear and infinite.    
  
And the mountains -- they’re in the belly of the beast now, trekking down the valley that slopes up into these cavernous jaws, the maw of the mountain range. The mountains are enormous, scraping up at the flesh of the sky with jagged peaks, so large that when Sehun looks up at them, he feels a strange shiver at the thought of being so insignificant. He catches Jongin staring up at the cliffs and knows that he feels the same way.   
  
“Imagine all of the wolves that lived here before,” Jongin murmurs, so quietly that Sehun can barely hear him. They’re tucked into each other’s body heats, blanketed by thick furs. Jungkook’s awake a few meters away, taking the first watch of the night. “They went through this same valley, hunted on this same land.” Jongin exhales and his breath is warm on Sehun’s neck.    
  
Sehun wonders what the mountains have seen: the history, the wolves, the people; the untold stories and the untold struggles; the fear, the change, the greed, the land and the landscape. One day, they will become nothing but stories too.   
  
Pebbles clack against each other as Jungkook makes his way back to them, his eyes readjusting to the darkness and his fangs slipping into human teeth.    
  
Jongin shrugs off Sehun’s hold and slips from the furs with all the deadly silence of a predator. Unlike Jungkook, when he makes his way across the terrain, Jongin hardly disturbs a single stone.    
  
Sehun shifts over and Jungkook slips into Jongin’s vacated spot with ease. Sehun doesn’t trust Jungkook, but he isn’t cruel enough to let the young Alpha freeze, either.    
  
“Is he yours?” Jungkook asks, initiating conversation for the first time in days.   
  
Sehun lets his eyes close. “No one ever really belongs to anyone.”    
  
  
  
\---   
  
  
  
There is an undeniable beauty in the mountains, this much Jongin can admit.    
  
He sees it in the mountains and the rolling fields, the sloping buttes and patches of snow, in the scattering of stars and constellations overhead at night. The sky is so much clearer in the mountains.    
  
But Jongin’s been tense ever since they entered mountain territory. He doesn’t want to show weakness: doesn’t let Sehun feed him extra food even though they have plenty, doesn’t let the other Alphas cut his shift shorter. Jongin can feel both of their prickling gazes on him when he isn’t looking; Sehun’s of worry and Jungkook’s of curiosity. He ignores them both.   
  
The only time he allows himself to let down his guard is for a few short hours every night, when Jungkook’s away on the first night watch, and it’s only Jongin and Sehun under the furs. Even then, he doesn’t think that the distance will do anything -- Jungkook would be able to hear and scent anything out of the ordinary -- but it’s irrationally comforting anyway.    
  
With his nerves grated raw, and his exhaustion tugging at him, Jongin glances up one morning to find that they’ve crossed the entirety of the mountain’s valley.   
  
“This way,” Jungkook directs quietly. He doesn’t look at Jongin.    
  
Jungkook points towards a bleak and meandering trail that wanders up the mountain’s side, disappearing into a kingdom of stone and ice.    
  
“That’s your winter shelter,” Jongin says, unimpressed.   
  
“We aren’t the only predators in the mountain range,” Jungkook defends himself. “It’s easier to protect when you’re higher up.”   
  
“There’s also no food and no warmth,” Sehun murmurs to himself.   
  
Jongin eyes the barren wasteland warily.   
  
They push forward.    
  
Jongin knows that he belongs to the forest, can’t shake the strange tingling under his scalp, under his skin. The hard stone underfoot, the open and exposed sky overhead, the wind howling every night -- these things are queer and unfamiliar.    
  
The feeling intensifies when they delve into the heart of the mountain, where there is nothing -- no dirt, no wildflowers, no grass -- besides granite and gravel and wind.    
  
  
  
They reach the mountain pack’s winter shelter by nightfall.   
  
“Wait here,” Jungkook murmurs, when they reach the entrance of an enormous cave. Sehun takes a step closer, his flank brushing Jongin’s, when Jungkook disappears into the mouth of the cave.    
  
The delicate curving of the stone, carved out in rivulets, above and around the entrance of the cave seem to suggest that in the summer, when the snow melts, water rushes over the rock in a waterfall.    
  
Living in the caves seems perilous, and cold. The stone path that wound around the side of the mountain had been thin, only wide enough for one fully grown wolf at a time. Loose pebbles that they knocked over had been sent tumbling over into the ravine.   
  
A few minutes pass before Jungkook remerges soberly to invite them in.   
  
The inside of the cavern is much larger than its entrance suggests. A pool of mountain water at the center of the cave eerily reflects the vaulted rock ceiling. A steady drip of water shatters the mirror surface every few seconds.    
  
Three pale and lithe Alphas are gathered by the pool. Jungkook pads forward hesitantly.    
  
“This is Sehun, of the forest pack.” Jungkook licks his lips. “And Jongin. Jongin, Sehun -- this is Seokjin.”   
  
The oldest Alpha looks up curiously. “We’ve never had forest wolves here. You’ve made a long journey.”   
  
Sehun looks at him flatly. “Our journey’s only halfway over. We’re here to bring you back to the rest of your pack.”   
  
“At what cost?” Seokjin says challengingly. “What deal you’ve struck with Namjoon is yours and his alone. We won’t leave this place.”   
  
“We’ll go over the boundaries again. There won’t be anything that will bring us into battle.”   
  
“Easy for you to say,” Seokjin replies. “You’re too young to remember before -- ”   
  
“That’s the past,” Sehun argues. “You need to come with us -- ”   
  
“So what? We’ll be closer to you? Easier to pick off and kill?”   
  
Sehun makes a growl of frustration and Jongin steps in.   
  
“You’ve been through much,” Jongin placates, holding up his hands, “And we understand that. But you need to leave. Clearly there isn’t much here -- ”   
  
“You don’t know anything,” a second Alpha interjects. He stands up and steps close. “You’re just an Omega, and a young one at that. How can you know what’s best for us?”   
  
Jongin doesn’t so much as twitch. He won’t allow himself. Calmly, he continues, “We’ll give you three days to decide. We leave with or without you.”   
  
Jongin looks at Sehun. Sehun holds his gaze, then turns to Seokjin and nods.    
  
Jungkook escorts them to a smaller cave near the mouth of the entrance. “You can stay here for now,” he mutters. He opens his mouth to say something, but apparently thinks better of it. He turns and leaves.   
  
  
  
For three days and three nights, Sehun and Jongin stay in the cave.   
  
“We should go out and talk to them,” Sehun murmurs, pacing anxiously on the second day. They’ve been eating from the food that Jungkook’s brought them, but have had no other interactions with the other mountain Alphas.    
  
“Just wait,” Jongin reassures him, though he’s nervous himself, “Let them decide.”   
  
At night, they curl up under the furs, but Jongin refuses to do anything other than sleep. To show affection in this foreign place, under another pack’s roof, would be to show weakness. Jongin can’t afford to show weakness. He does not allow Sehun to touch him unless they’re close to sleep.   
  
On the third night, Jongin decides enough is enough.   
  
“I’m going to talk to them,” Jongin declares.   
  
Sehun cycles through a series of expressions, too fast for Jongin to decipher. Eventually, he settles for asking, “Do you want me to come with you?”   
  
Jongin shakes his head. He knows that Sehun’s struggling to not take control, so he presses his mouth against Sehun’s temple before slipping out of their cave.    
  
Jungkook looks up from where he’s crouched by the pool of water. “What are you doing?”    
  
“Where’s Seokjin?” Jongin asks, walking forward.   
  
“With Taehyung and Yoongi,” Jungkook jerks his head to gesture at the hollow at the back of the cave. “But I wouldn’t -- ”   
  
Jongin’s heading over before Jungkook can finish his sentence.    
  
Stalactites drip down from the ceiling, like fangs hanging ominously overhead. Jongin has to avoid stalagmites that protrude from the ground like claws. Water echoes in the cave, dripping slowly. The stone underfoot is damp and cold.   
  
“What are you here for,” Seokjin rasps, though not unkindly. He’s situated in a nest of furs and his eyes track Jongin.   
  
A head lifts up from a pile of blankets. Another Alpha -- Yoongi, Jongin thinks -- snarls. “You’re walking into the lion’s den.” He curls his mouth into the shadow of a smirk. “Do you know what you’re asking for?”   
  
“Do you know what  _ you’re  _ asking for?” Jongin counters. “What’s left for you here?” he reasons. Out of the corner of his eye, Jongin spies the last Alpha, Taehyung, lingering in the shadows.   
  
“This is our life,” Seokjin says, gesturing around him, his movements encompassing the entirety of the cave. “Our home.”   
  
“Is your home not your pack? Is your home not the people you’re with?”   
  
Yoongi interjects, “Even if we go with you, if we live on the other side of the mountains, you’ll kill us all.”   
  
“We only killed your pack members because they strayed too far into our territory. If you stay on your side of the border we have no quarrels with you.”   
  
Yoongi retorts, “What kind of life is that? Living on the edge? Who knows whether or not you’ll come for our throats?”   
  
“What kind of life are you living here?” Jongin tilts his head. “Everything lives and everything dies. You know that. You’ve seen it. So what quality of life will you settle for, knowing that you’ll die the way you saw your pack died?”   
  
“How dare you,” Yoongi snarls; he lunges forward but Seokjin holds him back.   
  
“Think about it,” Jongin says passively, before turning away.   
  
  
  
“We’ll go,” are the first words out of Seokjin’s mouth the next morning, when Sehun and Jongin emerge to the sight of the four other mountain Alphas waiting by the pool of water.   
  
Jongin tries to hide his surprise.    
  
“Are you ready to leave?” Sehun asks.    
  
“We need to gather our things,” Seokjin says, a faint smirk tugging on his lips. “It may take a while.”   
  
  
  
It does, indeed, take a while.    
  
It seems as though the mountain Alphas have an endless number of grottos hidden within their large cavern: each hollow is full of various items -- dried seeds and berries, thick furs and pelts, and plants that Jongin doesn’t recognize. It takes them another few days to gather all of their things. The discomfort festering under Jongin’s skin only grows.    
  
In this time, Jongin has the opportunity to observe the rest of the Alphas. Yoongi seems unapologetic. Seokjin is level-headed and even-tempered. Taehyung is mysterious and Jungkook ducks his head in respect when the elders correct him.    
  
More than ever, Jongin feels a wave of gratitude: Sehun is softspoken and kind in comparison to the rest of the mountain Alphas, yet can still stand his ground when arguing with Yoongi or Seokjin.    
  
They don’t have much time to linger. Each day the frost comes a bit earlier, the wind bites a bit stronger. Jongin eyes the dark clouds outside and tries to push down his worries.    
  
Sehun and Jongin both grit their teeth and wait as the mountain Alphas gather their things.    
  
“Look at all this,” Jongin murmurs when the mountain wolves have finally put together their belongings.    
  
Sehun stands near him, hovering close. The two of them stand a little apart from the rest of the others, so that no one else may overhear their conversation. “It makes sense.” Sehun tilts his head. “They’ve been living here a while. They collected things over the years.”   
  
“No, I mean,” Jongin nods towards the piles of paraphernalia. “It’s just so different from what we have.” At home, their shelter is stocked with dried mushrooms, roots, and ginger. In contrast, the mountain wolves have layers of thick furs, and strange and gnarled herbs.   
  
Sehun hums. “Not like home.”   
  
Jongin agrees, “Not like home. Not like the river. The forest.”   
  
Sehun smiles. “The redwood trees.”   
  
“I can’t imagine living in caves. Hearing the dripping water all the time. It must be so cold.”   
  
Sehun shivers.    
  
They pack their things. Jongin is --   
  
He feels strange. Unsure. He feels a bit like how he did when he first discovered that he was an Omega: stubborn, determined to prove his worth. He carefully tries to avoid touching Sehun -- only in the evening, when they curl up in their separate space, does Jongin let their hands brush.    
  
Jongin imagines. He thinks about what letting Sehun would feel like, the shape of his teeth, the heat of his mouth on bare skin, on Jongin’s neck. He thinks. He does not touch.   
  
  



End file.
